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Winning Streak

 Winning Streak
type
TVTItem
 Winning Streak
label
Winning Streak
 Winning Streak
page
WinningStreak
 Winning Streak
comment
Game Show hosted by Bill Cullen and produced by Bob Stewart which ran on NBC from 1974-75. Two contestants picked letters from a 4×4 board with a category on top, and each question's answer started with the chosen letter. The first to buzz-in and answer correctly was given the letter to take (and place in one of the seven positions on the front of each podium) or pass it, with an incorrect answer awarding that letter to the opponent. The first contestant to spell a word which fit the category moved on to the Money Board.At the Money Board, the winner picked a number from 1-6 to set the base dollar amount (from $100-$200 in $10 increments), then picked one of the remaining numbers (7-18) to reveal a letter. Giving a valid word containing the revealed letter won that base amount, after which the contestant picked another letter to try for double the base amount by giving a word with the two revealed letters. This continued (with the amount "doubling and redoubling") until the contestant either bailed out with the money accumulated or failed to give an acceptable word, thus "busting".After the Money Board, that player stood on the sidelines while another main game and Money Board were played. If either player busted during the Money Board, the other became champion, but if both walked away with money they played the Final Showdown — another Money Board for the total of their pots, with the contestants alternating picking letters until one of them failed to make a word. (If both contestants busted on the Money Board, they competed in the next main game.)By December 26, things got simplified a bit — the main game goal was changed to contestants winning points behind the chosen letters to pass a certain threshold, then (apparently) facing the previous champion in a similar game to build words with the letters selected during the main game. The bonus game, now the Sudden-Death Showdown, was a cross between the Money Board and Final Showdown; the only difference was that the dollar amounts (now going up to $500) were simply added for each new word instead of doubling and redoubling.Got all that?Winning Streak replaced Three on a Match (which had the same personnel and creator) on July 1, 1974 at the behest of Lin Bolen, swapping timeslots with Jeopardy! and facing CBS' popular Gambit. The Peacock dropped both on January 3, 1975, with Streak's timeslot given to some new show by Merv Griffin.But the original format was rather dangerous, with major problems had some particularly smart/gutsy contestants been on. While the claim was that players could win over $100,000, the theoretical top prize in each game on a network that didn't have a Game Show Winnings Cap was actually a whopping $819,200, equivalent to over four million dollars today.Not related to the long-running Irish game show of the same name, which has been running since 21 September 1990 and is funded by the Irish National Lottery with a top prize that actually can be won.
 Winning Streak
fetched
2023-04-26T12:28:39Z
 Winning Streak
parsed
2023-04-26T12:28:39Z
 Winning Streak
processingComment
Dropped link to Blockbusters: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Winning Streak
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Dropped link to RussianRoulette: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Winning Streak
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Dropped link to SecondChance: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Winning Streak
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Dropped link to WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Winning Streak
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Winning Streak / int_1667cb1
type
Calvinball
 Winning Streak / int_1667cb1
comment
Calvinball: But the game makes a bit more sense upon viewing it in action.
 Winning Streak / int_1667cb1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_1667cb1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_1667cb1
 Winning Streak / int_517ae522
type
Loads and Loads of Rules
 Winning Streak / int_517ae522
comment
Loads and Loads of Rules: Read the above description and try to make sense of it.
 Winning Streak / int_517ae522
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_517ae522
featureConfidence
1.0
 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_517ae522
 Winning Streak / int_62259825
type
Nintendo Hard
 Winning Streak / int_62259825
comment
Nintendo Hard: The quickest way to win $100,000 was to find the $200 card and give a word containing ten letters you had picked. Still easier than $409,600 for all 12 letters, though.
 Winning Streak / int_62259825
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_62259825
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1.0
 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_62259825
 Winning Streak / int_68d43ebc
type
Game Show Host
 Winning Streak / int_68d43ebc
comment
Game Show Host: Bill Cullen.
 Winning Streak / int_68d43ebc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_68d43ebc
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1.0
 Winning Streak
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Winning Streak / int_68d43ebc
 Winning Streak / int_7d7a7d0f
type
Opening Narration
 Winning Streak / int_7d7a7d0f
comment
Opening Narration: At least two. August 9: "You can double your money with every word, and you may win over $100,000 — or you may go broke. The decision is yours... this is Winning Streak, starring Bill Cullen!" December 26: "The stakes get higher and higher with every single letter, but only one player will win it all on... Winning Streak! With your host, Bill Cullen!"
 Winning Streak / int_7d7a7d0f
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1.0
 Winning Streak / int_7d7a7d0f
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 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_7d7a7d0f
 Winning Streak / int_83ea0763
type
Rouge Angles of Satin
 Winning Streak / int_83ea0763
comment
Rouge Angles of Satin: Even though the main game was won by way of spelling, the show apparently didn't expect a contestant to screw it up...but it happened during the taping of the premiere. Bob Stewart's solution was to rewind the game to when she screwed up and continue from there.
 Winning Streak / int_83ea0763
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 Winning Streak / int_83ea0763
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 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_83ea0763
 Winning Streak / int_95496a1d
type
The Announcer
 Winning Streak / int_95496a1d
comment
The Announcer: Don Pardo.
 Winning Streak / int_95496a1d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_95496a1d
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1.0
 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_95496a1d
 Winning Streak / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 Winning Streak / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Foreshadowing: Winning Streak, for all its failure, actually had a few innovations that got recycled into other games. The Money Board had 18 spaces arranged in a square, with the contestant's face superimposed in the middle over the show's logo. Sound familiar? Part of the original maingame (picking letters from a board, with the question's correct answer beginning with that letter) got recycled into Bill's later Blockbusters (1980-82). The theoretical top prize of $819,200 is completely outlandish for the 1970s, but actually fits quite well as a big-ticket, if unorthodox, prize in the post-Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? landscape. The logo seen in the center of the Money Board during the December 26 clip looks remarkably like that of Russian Roulette (2002-03).
 Winning Streak / int_9d12bbc1
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_9d12bbc1
featureConfidence
1.0
 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_9d12bbc1
 Winning Streak / int_aa42306e
type
Totally Radical
 Winning Streak / int_aa42306e
comment
Totally Radical: Bolen wanted all NBC emcees to be young and/or hip-looking, so the 56-year-old Cullen had shoulder-length hair, butterfly collars, and leisure suits. Amusingly, this was kicked out by December 26.
 Winning Streak / int_aa42306e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_aa42306e
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1.0
 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_aa42306e
 Winning Streak / int_b1fbb55b
type
Game Show Winnings Cap
 Winning Streak / int_b1fbb55b
comment
Game Show Winnings Cap: None, which is how the show could offer more than $400,000 to each player.
 Winning Streak / int_b1fbb55b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_b1fbb55b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_b1fbb55b
 Winning Streak / int_d3435454
type
Bonus Round
 Winning Streak / int_d3435454
comment
Bonus Round: The Money Board and Final Showdown.
 Winning Streak / int_d3435454
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_d3435454
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1.0
 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_d3435454
 Winning Streak / int_name
type
ItemName
 Winning Streak / int_name
comment
 Winning Streak / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Winning Streak / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Winning Streak / int_name
 Winning Streak / int_name
itemName
Winning Streak

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Winning Streak
hasFeature
Game Show / int_1b9cdc67
 WinningStreak
seeAlso
Winning Streak